Just for Laughs has unveiled star power for its 2022 JFL Awards, with Amy Schumer receiving the Comedy Person of the Year trophy.
Schumer will receive the top award in Montreal as she brings her Amy Schumer Whore Tower to Just for Laughs for a July 30 date at the Place des Arts. And Hasan Minhaj, who began his comedy career in 2014 as a Just for Laughs New Face, will return to receive the stand-up comedian of the year award, while also hosting his latest arena show in Montreal.
Just for Laughs, run by a consortium led by ICM and Howie Mandel, also named Taylor Tomlinson as its 2022 comedy star of the year after breaking out in 2017 as part of the festival’s New Faces talent discovery exhibition.
And Jerrod Carmichael, a New Faces cohort in 2011, will receive the special comedy of the year award for his HBO special Rotaniël. This year, Just for Laughs will also give keynote speeches by Neal Brennan, an air correspondent at Comedy Central’s The Daily Show With Trevor Noah and Amanda Seales, who starred in HBOs uncertain and played as a guest on ABCs black ish; Sophie Buddle will deliver the Canadian keynote address this year.
After a two-year hiatus during the pandemic where JFL held fully virtual comedy events, the festival returns to a physical event and traditional venues such as Place des Arts, Gesu, L’Olympia and L’Astral. It lasts July 13-31.